Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act
Latest action. By Senator Inhofe from Committee on Environment and Public Works filed written report. Report No. 114-67. Minority views filed.
Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act
This bill revises the standard under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) used to determine whether regulatory control of a certain chemical is warranted. If a chemical presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, the TSCA requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to initiate rulemaking to reduce risks to a reasonable level. The bill requires that standard to be based on exposure to a chemical under its conditions of use. The conditions of use are the intended, known, or reasonably foreseeable circumstances under which a chemical is manufactured, processed, distributed, disposed of, or used. The safety standard must also protect potentially exposed or susceptible populations, not just the general population, from unreasonable risks. Further, costs or other nonrisk factors may not be considered in developing the safety standard.
(Sec. 4) Within two years, the EPA must develop any policies, procedures, and guidance necessary to carry out the bill's requirements with respect to: (1) requesting safety data from manufacturers or processors, (2) prioritizing existing chemicals for evaluation of their risks, (3) reviewing new chemicals or significant new uses of existing chemicals, and (4) conducting safety assessments and safety determinations on whether a chemical meets the safety standard. Those policies, procedures, and guidances must be reviewed every five years and revised as necessary to reflect new scientific developments or understandings. In carrying out those requirements, the EPA must take into consideration information relating to chemicals that is reasonably available.
The EPA must also establish policies and procedures for the testing of chemicals. The EPA may not interpret the lack of exposure information as a lack of exposure to a chemical.
The EPA must inform the public of the schedule for the completion of each safety assessment and safety determination as soon as practicable after designating a chemical as a high-priority chemical for risk evaluation purposes. A safety assessment is an assessment of the risk posed by a chemical under the conditions of use, integrating hazard, use, and exposure information regarding the chemical. A safety determination is a decision made by the EPA as to whether a chemical meets the safety standard under the conditions of use.
The summary continues for 62 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to Senate with amendment(s)" stage on June 17, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 18, 2015: By Senator Inhofe from Committee on Environment and Public Works filed written report. Report No. 114-67. Minority views filed.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
TOM UDALL (D-NM) introduced it on March 10, 2015, and 60 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 25 Democrats, 35 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 10, 2015, 4202 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4102 days ago, on June 18, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers